Levers

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The only thing more fun than pushing a button is pulling the lever. Hmm... that opening sentence alone could start an interesting thread  But, this is about a pair of levers in my truck that operate the dump box. This is less about welding and more about the mechanical improvements I made over the previous design. What I took out was two levers with a 3/8 bolt run through them that they operated on. The first lever engages the PTO and required 37 lbs of pull/push to operate (measured with a hanging spring scale). The throw of this lever was only 1.5 inches. The second lever operates the pump which tilts the bed. No effort required to operate this lever and it had about 2 inches of throw off center (2 inches forward to dump, 2 inches back to lower, 4 inches overall travel).As you can see in the first pic the PTO engage lever is directly connected to the PTO so the only way to reduce the effort to push/pull it would be to either lengthen the top or shorten the bottom of the lever. I thought about creative ways to do it and an idea popped into my head to use a cable. I measured the actual push/pull needed at the PTO and found it was about 50 lbs. I went to mcmaster.com and selected item 1338K21 for the job. Using my limited math skills I elected to keep the upper end of the lever at 18 inches and reduced the lower to just 2 inches giving me a 9:1 ratio. So instead of 37 lbs of push/pull I now have about 7 lbs. The throw also increased from 1.5 inches to 9 inches. This was also an improvement because it just made the lever "feel" more smooth to throw. To install this new setup I modified the original bracket (pic 3) and made a new bracket to mount at the PTO (pic 4). The next improvement was bending up new levers that moved them 3 inches closer to the driver (pic 5). The previous levers just came straight up out of the floor on the passenger side of the tranny tunnel. Bending the 1.25x1/4" bar was my first real use of a HF bender that I bought 12 years ago (long story, I had forgotten I had it). I added red handle covers as a finishing touch, mcmaster.com item 969K37. Attached Images
Reply:The next improvement was to do better than just a bolt running through the bracket and levers. I beefed up both levers with a square of 3/8 welded to make them thicker then I drilled a 5/8 hole and inserted a sleeved bronze bearing for a 7/16 rod. The sleeved bearings have thrust flanges so I added bronze thrust washers to the other side of each lever. To make it all work properly and smoothly I welded a steel sleeve between the levers with a set screw to hold the 7/16 bolt from rotating. I also welded thick flat washers to the head of the 7/16 bolt and to the nut. I was then able to tighten the nut onto the bolt until the levers were "snug" to move without anything attached to them. When I had the "feel" right I tightened the set screw and added a double nut to the bolt to hold everything firm. The levers now move like they are part of the truck and not just hanging loose on the bracket. the final improvement (more of a gimmick) was I added a lever switch to the PTO lever. The switch will be used to turn on a dash light appropriately labeled "PTO". Attached Images
Reply:thats one clean truck!.. oh yea pretty clever design also =)-NateMiller Trailblazer 302gMiller Spoolmatic 30aLN-25 x 2Idealarc SP200Hypertherm Powermax 600
Reply:There's some pretty good formulas out there for levers.The ones I dug up classified the levers as Class 1 2 3 etc.  depending on where the fulcrum was located, and the direction of the applied force in relation to the load.  It's fascinating stuff.  Mostly forgotten in this day and age where hydraulics do most of the work now.Were you able to find a supplier for the lining on the external band safety brake, or did you have it relined, or is it original?  Best REAL safety brakes ever made!!!!!!!!I love the old iron. I look at it and think it's still good technology.  It's being replaced by components engineered to the milimeter to resist breakage at the lowest cost.  "How many cycles will it withstand?".  The thought being that it's a consumer good that should be replaced at the end of it's "serviceable" lifetime.I'm not sure I like modern thinking, but I'd be a fool to fight it.  Just learn to cope with it, and work your way around it."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Miller blue truck with cool levers to pull....Love itBrandonLincoln Tombstone 225 A/C Steel StickerOld Victor O2/Acetylene setupMiller Syncrowave 250 Tig/PC-300 PulserMiller Millermatic 212 Mig HTP Invertatig 201 Giant Teck D50 Plasma cutterLots of HF grinders
Reply:Pretty slick. I build a few lever rigs for winch trucks, both in the floor and thru the sliding rear window but never a dump bed. I even did a couple or three for feeder boxes for the cowboys (blush). I didn't really mean that, Samm. Iron is iron whether it's for a winch or a feeder.